Part of the Haute Route; two alpenists can be seen following the trail in the snow.

The Haute Route, (or the High Route or Mountaineers' Route) is a cross-country route running between Chamonix, France and Zermatt, Switzerland. First charted by English adventurers at the end of the 19th Century, this route follows the 8+day, 100km, glacier walk from the Chamonix valley, home of Mont Blanc to Zermatt, home of the Matterhorn.

The route's popularity has been hit lately due to dangerously collapsing glaciers. Some parts of the route have become virtually impassable. This is believed to be due to global warming; however the glaciers have been receding since the Little Ice Age of the 17th century.

There are a number of variations to the classic Chamonix-Zermatt route, including Grand Lui Variation , Zermatt-Saas Fee , Verbier-Zermatt . This article deals with the classic route.

Vignettes Hut, near Arolla, Switzerland

Huts and villages on the route

• Le Tour village, France
• Albert Premier Hut
• Trient Hut or Orny Hut
• Champex town, Switzerland
• Valsorey Hut or Chanrion Hut
• Vignettes Hut
• Arolla village, Switzerland
• Bertol Hut
• Schonbiel Hut
• Zermatt town, Switzerland

Peaks and passes on the route

• Mont Blanc
• Pigne D'Arolla
• Col de L'Eveque
• Grand Combin
• Col du Mt. Brule
• Col de Valpelline
• Matterhorn

Reference

• Peter Cliff , The Haute Route: Chamonix-Zermatt ISBN 1-871890-21-7